"Give me a place to stand, and with this lever I will move the whole world."
President Obama saved a quarter million acres of Wilderness this week by something he didn't do. He didn't create a National Monument. But he could have. And he will again.
Archimedes' lever in today's politics is the power of the president to use his executive power under the Antiquities Act to create National Monuments.
The Act has been used by 16 presidents to create National Monuments in 30 states, as well as in the District of Columbia and several territories. Teddy Roosevelt first used it to create Devils Tower National Monument, and President Obama has created 19 National Monuments, protecting 260 million acres of public land and water---the most of any president. His designations have protected more than 2 million acres of land---more than Teddy Roosevelt---and the last three monuments he created protected threatened landscapes in Nevada and California, and endangered archeological treasures in Texas.
During his State of the Union in 2014, Obama said that if Congress did not act to protect our public lands he would use his authority to do so himself. So far he has followed through. He can, and should, and likely will create more National Monuments.
What may be less obvious is how just the threat of a National Monument designation can also protect public land. In many western states there are millions of acres of wilderness quality land that have gone unprotected by Congress because of the stonewalling of wilderness bills by powerful legislators. A classic case is in Utah, where the Redrock Wilderness Act has been blocked by its Republican Senators and House members since it was first introduced in 1989 by Utah Democratic Representative Wayne Owens.
A similar situation existed in Idaho until last Tuesday. For over 10 years environmentalists have advocated for wilderness protection for the Boulder White Clouds region, but Congress failed to pass legislation to do so---even though one of the primary sponsors of the legislation was Idaho's Republican Congressman Rob Simpson. Wilderness supporters turned to the only lever they had: they asked President Obama to create a National Monument. Last fall, Rep. Simpson asked the Obama administration to hold off on a National Monument to give his bill one last chance to get through Congress. At a speech celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, presidential adviser John Podesta gave Simpson 6 months. "You'd better get moving on your bill."
Simpson's bill finally passed the House last week, and made it through the Senate on a voice vote on Tuesday. Wilderness advocates are pleased that it gives permanent wilderness protection to over 275,000 acres, though disappointed that it released 155,000 acres of Wilderness Study Areas for other uses. A national monument would have protected close to 600,000 acres, though none of that would have had the protections that wilderness designation carry.
So by just by threatening to create a 600,000 acre National Monument, President Obama has levered a 275,000 acre permanently-protected Wilderness.
Whether this example can be repeated in other states during Obama's remaining term is yet to be seen. There are plenty of Wilderness bills out there, but none of them with a Republican sponsor.
In Colorado, a bill to designate wilderness in the area of Brown's Canyon on the Arkansas River was blocked, so the president used his power under the Antiquities Act to create Browns Canyon National Monument.
Representative Diana DeGette has reintroduced her Colorado Wilderness Act, which would protect over 700,000 acres of roadless land in her state, but it faces opposition from Republicans in both Houses.
Similarly, in California and Oregon there are wilderness bills with Democratic sponsors, but they are unlikely to be allowed through by the Republican Congress.
In Utah, the threat of the designation of one or more National Monuments in the state has its Republican governor, Gary Herbert, and its all-Republican Congressional delegation in a frenzy. Just this week Herbert wrote to the president warning him not to create a National Monument, and House Resources Chair Rob Bishop---from Utah---also chimed in. Bishop has said he intends to introduce legislation that will "settle" federal public lands issues in the state but the bill was promised for last March and has yet to surface.
Meanwhile two separate and overlapping proposals have gained momentum, either of which may result in a National Monument in Utah.
The first is the Greater Canyonlands National Monument---proposed by the Utah Wilderness Coalition and other groups. It would protect areas contiguous with Canyonlands National Park---achieving in part the vision of Stewart Udall when he flew over the area early in his term as JFK's Secretary of the Interior. "Goodness sake, that's a National Park!" he said.
The second proposal is more recent, and intriguing. In July a group of leaders of Native American tribes in Utah called the Bears Ears Coalition met with representatives of the Obama administration---including the director of the National Park Service---to urge that almost 2 million acres of their ancestral lands in Utah be protected by the federal government.
While their proposal is to create a National Conservation Area (NCA), a National Monument could achieve the same purpose without Congressional action.
Some of their proposal overlaps with that of the Greater Canyonlands Monument, but if either or both monuments are created it would protect a vast area of wild, scenic, cultural, and archeological treasures.
The Salt Lake Tribune recently editorialized in favor of a National Monument for Utah, saying:
If Utahns don’t act, Obama should protect Utah’s amazing places
This week, Gov. Gary Herbert restated the fears of Utah's GOP leaders by writing a personal letter to Obama. "As governor of the state of Utah, I write today to strongly urge you not to use unilateral executive authority to designate a national monument in Utah."
Herbert is asking the president to let a process initiated in 2013 by Rep. Rob Bishop determine the fate of public lands throughout eastern Utah. The Bishop process, also supported by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, is an attempt to get county officials, the oil and gas industries and environmental groups to the table, and avoid a national monument designation.
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Herbert's letter comes immediately after official teeth-gnashing over a meeting between Interior Department administrators and tribal leaders in southeastern Utah. A Native American coalition seeks federal protections for almost 2 million acres of wild lands filled with archaeological riches known as Bears Ears.
The governor says any protections should come from a "Ground-up, open, public" process. The Navajo-led coalition is nothing if not "ground-up."
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Barack Obama's pressure is reasonable and appropriate. If Utah's elected officials can't, or won't, protect Utah's amazing places, then Mr. President, wield your pen. Protect them for Utahns, and for all Americans.
The writer Edward Abbey once said, "God bless America. Let's save some of it."
Use that Lever, Mr. President.